FIFA opens the World Cup International Broadcast Centre

02/06/2014
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19:25

Located in Rio de Janeiro, the IBC will generate World Cup related images to approximately 3 billion people. Broadband infrastructure will provide low cost internet services for population after the event

This Monday morning (02.06), FIFA opened the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) in Rio de Janeiro. The 55 thousand square metre structure was set up at Riocentro and will work as a central office, providing images to 86 media rights holders (from 41 countries) – all of which have their own structure put in place at the venue – and 160 licenced TV networks for the World Cup.

“National squads are arriving and the IBC has been put in operation. For those who doubted it, the World Cup has started already”, stated the FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke. Over 15 thousand journalists have been accredited to work at the World Cup. “We’re servicing a record number of media outlets. For a month, this will be the biggest television studio in the world. For television, connectivity is the most important thing and that’s why I'd like to thank the Brazilian government for their support", said the FIFA TV director Nicklas Ericsen.

Live images of every World Cup match at each of the 12 Brazilian host cities are forwarded to the IBC through FIFA TV Production - there are 34 cameras at each ground. There are 17 studios - of up to 400 m² - at the IBC and 350 40-inch HD monitors have been set up, in addition to a 6 thousand m² area where antennas have been put up. The whole structure took five months to be built.

"IBC is important because it’s there to ensure that half of the world’s population, around 3 billion people, are able to watch the World Cup, despite not being in Brazil. It was a great effort that enabled us to connect, through the use of optical fibre, Brazil’s Amazon region to the federal broadband programme, integrating that region to the grid for the first time. It is a great legacy that the World Cup will leave behind for Brazil”, stated the Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Sport Luis Fernandes.

The Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Communications Genildo Lins, explained that the whole of the IBC’s structure will be used after the World Cup to provide broadband internet access to part of the population, for whom this service has yet to be supplied to. “All images recorded at the stadiums will converge here and the broadcasting is done by a federally owned company, TELEBRAS. At the end of the World Cup, the capacity being provided will be offered to the population, so as they may have access to cheap broadband internet connection.

The first media rights holder to use the facilities arrived at the IBC on 12 May. The centre will be fully operational this Tuesday. FIFA expects the centre to broadcast around 5 hours of programming.